Coffee:The Gasoline of Life

Tea: The Diesel of Life

"A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems."

This quote is widely attributed to prolific mathematician Paul Erdős (but according to Wikipedia actually originates with Alfréd Rényi).

Seems to me that every few years we get an 'expert report' which states that something is good/bad for you. Give it a few years then the opinion is revised.

Back in the 50's, Fay Weldon came out with the slogan 'Go to work on an egg'. Since then, 'official' opinion has changed like the wind. Luckily my dad completely misunderstood and you have the annoyance of my company here .

"98% water"?! Oh, you must drink the American version that was watered down to be more tea'ish. Now, granted, living in America I to often drink the watered down version as it is the only thing available; but typically I go for the strongest watered down version I can find. Because, as they say, if you want to drink a tea-like beverage... drink tea.

I don't know where you are from, Javahead, but I agree!

Years ago, I visited Italy. The first morning in the hotel, we ordered coffee with breakfast and were asked, "American or Italian?" Well, we hadn't traveled so far to drink something we could get at home, so we asked for Italian! It was wonderful and we couldn't even blink until about 10 AM. Since then, I have been hooked on espresso and espresso drinks here in the US -- primarily latte and Americanos.

When we brew coffee at home, we grind it ourselves and grind it finer than most Americans. That is how they do it in Europe, and it gives better flavor to the coffee and makes it stronger.

Whwn dd the expression, 'I'd like a coffee' go out the window ?

I don't get it. It's simple, 'coffe sounds good, I'll have one'.

I don't go to coffe shops now, the simple request of ' a cup of coffe' seems all too much for them.

I for one drink coffee as a beverage, not as a stimulant. In fact I don't notice any difference in alertness with or without coffee. Now if someone could make coffee taste as good as it smells when freshly but moderately roasted, then I'd really like it.

I just returned from Europe, where I had quite a few little tiny "cups" of café. At that concentration, I find it quite bitter and must add sugar to make it palatable, and it does not quench thirst at all. Even at that concentration, I don't feel any stimulant effect.

My normal morning quota is 600 to 800 ml, with no sugar other than the sugar in the powdered chocolate that I sometimes add. I have known people who drink as much as 3 or even 4 liters of (American) coffee a day.

In Europe, but were?. Italy, Portugal? We use coffee as stimulant, not as simple beverage.

Western France and Northern Spain down to Burgos.

As I implied, I don't feel any effect from coffee or caffeine. I've been known to have a large cup just before bed in cold weather, with no problem sleeping thereafter. I do like a bit of brandy in my coffee if I have it in the evening, but don't have it every time, and more commonly have tea just before bed.

Ops, I can't live without coffee. Without coffee I am a zombie. Italian expresso is not french coffee. If I drink french coffee zombi was and zombi stay. You are caffeine-resistant, I suppose. Sorry for my english (i hope proficient). :)

Your English is far better than many I try to read here on CR4! Don't hesitate to use it.

I have seen a couple of times when going for a couple of days without coffee, I got a mild headache, and a cup of coffee seemed to make it go away. Other than that, as you say, I seem to be caffeine-resistant.

I gather you imply that the Italian express is much stronger than the French. I did spend a couple of weeks in northern Italy around 8 years ago, but don't remember the coffee being that strong. Perhaps that's because I basically don't react to caffeine...

You are addicted. Headache is withdrawal.

I've thought that a number of times, but I keep hearing people talk about needing their 'jolt', and I've never felt any at all, ever! I can normally go a day or two without coffee and have no problem. I can't remember a recent situation where I had to be coffee-free for more than a couple of days, so I've never come to a definitive conclusion.

I drink coffee for pleasure, not for the jolt. It doesn't give me much of a jolt anyway (just a little) and it never keeps me awake. But if I go without for 2 or 3 days, I get a killer headache! Normal headache remedies don't work; but after a couple sips of coffee, I'm fine again. Yep - sure sounds like addiction.

Coffee has been maligned for decades as a health risk. It is only recently that the pendulum has swung the other way. I bet more doctors still preach against coffee than for drinking it today. Only recently, has both coffee and the other vice alcohol, have shown health benefits. Massive coffee intake 6+ cups a day is statistically linked with very low incidents of Alzheimer's disease. Drinking coffee, keeping mentally active, getting at least 7 hrs sleep, exercising and taking some NSAID daily are your best bet to delay Alzheimer's disease. Many persons I know gave up coffee to reduce heart disease have increased their chances instead. Coffee is now thought to reduce heart disease.

We have a process for creating D.I. water here for sensor calibration.

I swapped out a co-workers tap water filled coffee pot with said D.I. water and created a pot of coffee so strong, it growled and bit you on the lip if you tried to drink it.

Interesting - some "drinking" water makes poor coffee, and bottled water or DI makes far better in those instances.

I like the graphic!

As indicated by the OP, this topic has been rehashed several times here. OP linked one of them.

Here's another!

Thanks for this! I will share it for the delight of my coffee-loving friends, and for defense against the "if you like something it must be bad" crowd.

Astronut, I find those very annoying. Worse, they brag about all the crap they do to stay healthy as if they should get a metal for eating slop. They want you to do the same. I prefer medicine or figure out if there is any good or at least not horrible slop to eat.